Crime Never Changes
by IIXBatmanXII
Summary: Batman wanders out of the wasteland and into the Commonwealth of Fallout 4, where he becomes known as "the general," leader of the Minutemen. Hoping to gather resources for an upcoming battle, the general travels to Diamond City, where he meets Piper, with whom he endeavors to rescue Nick Valentine in exchange for much needed caps.
1. Chapter 1

Preston Garvey strolled out his new home in Sanctuary to meet the returning general on the bridge. Preston was hopeful for the future. The general, just passing the Red Rocket truck stop, was still a little way off and Preston chose to fill the gap between them with the memory of their first meeting.

Preston was cornered in the Museum of Freedom, trying to protect the few remaining survivors from the massacre at Quincy. Their numbers had already dwindled as they wandered without home; through Jamaica Plain, pursued by gunners, and Lexington, overrun by feral ghouls. They had started with twenty and now there were five. Preston was running out of hope and ammunition. Through the locked door of the room they had barricaded themselves in, Preston could hear raiders tromping up the stairs and approaching the door. Preston opened the doors to the second-story balcony, thinking he might lower the others to safety before jumping down after them, but outside he found more raiders who had not yet entered the museum. Seeing the doors open, the raiders raised their guns towards Preston and the balcony. Preston panicked as he ducked behind the wall and cranked his laser musket and peeked out and leveled his gun at a raider and pulled the trigger and saw that he had aimed too low and he ducked behind the wall again and began to crank his musket once more. The raiders' bullets chased Preston and powdered portions of brick as they ricocheted off the museum's exterior walls. Preston heard guttural sounds coming from outside as he remained hidden behind the wall. He tried to imagine what he might see peeking out but failed. Bullets stopped striking the museum but the gunfire outside did not. Someone let out a "gah." Preston heard a dog barking and a "hunh." Soon he felt the urge to peek outside and gave in immediately.

Down in the street below he saw a man wearing a vault suit dispatching the raiders with a German Shepherd at his side. The man turned his pistol on the last raider. Preston merely observed in shock at his deliverance. A bullet left the vault dweller's gun and arrived at the raider's doorstep. He let out an "ugh" as he fell dead in the street. Preston, realizing he was still in dire need of assistance and had not been saved by the man's mere arrival, shouted to the stranger from the balcony. "Hey, up here! On the balcony! I've got a group of settlers inside! The raiders are almost through the door! Grab that laser musket and help us!" The man in the street looked up at Preston with confusion and briefly froze. Preston shouted again in desperation. "Please!" This stirred the vault dweller. He began searching the ground for the aforementioned "laser musket" and quickly located it. Preston pulled the balcony doors shut again and positioned himself behind the only entrance to the room in the case the raiders should break through the door before the vault dweller dealt with them. Preston could hear the man and his dog within the museum now, eliminating the raiders one by one. The barks and gunshots grew closer. Preston pictured their kind-hearted savior growing closer along with them. The gunshots ceased.

Preston moved towards the door to open it, but he stopped short of the door when he heard a dog whimper and a final gunshot. A raider's harsh voice came through the door. "I'm comin' in there, and I'm gonna skin every last one of ya." Preston raised his weapon again, moving to the side of the door. Mysteriously, gunfire resumed in the hallway. Bullets splintered the wooden door. Had Preston not stepped to the side, they would have killed him. A raider's face, presumably the one making the threats, burst through the door without warning, causing Preston to fire instinctively. The raider's head was reduced to red glowing ash upon the floorboards. The door swung open, apparently no longer locked. Preston nervously cranked his musket, unsure of who would step through the open doorway. The general stepped through, though he was not the general at the time.

Preston closed the door to his memory. The general was standing before him now. "How's the new settlement doing, general?"

"The ghouls are cleared out." The general paused before adding, almost unnecessarily, "the settlers have decided to join our cause." The general's voice was deep and dark and husky. It was not his natural voice but a guise. Preston had decided not to question the general's character. This "character" referred to was not the general's moral character, but rather the mythic character the general portrayed outwardly. Preston heard stories when he was younger.

"Glad to hear it." Preston paused before carrying on. "I've got another thing to talk to you about. We've finally started thinking about more than just survival- we've gotten large enough that we're having trouble communicating with all our settlements. It's a good problem to have, and, fortunately, I have a solution. I think it's time for us to retake the Castle- it's well-fortified, centrally-located, and, most importantly, it has a powerful enough radio transmitter to broadcast to the whole Commonwealth. It used to be the Minuteman HQ, way before my time."

"Who has control of it now?"

"Not who, so much as what. This was long before I joined up- but the way I heard it- some kind of monster came out of the sea and destroyed the fort. A lot of leaders died in the battle." Preston paused, thinking of Colonel Hollis' more recent death. "I guess nobody felt it was worth the risk attempting to retake it."

"We don't have the resources or the numbers to handle a sea monster, Preston. Especially not one that could run the Minutemen out of their HQ. We need time to gather more.." Mama Murphy stood, slightly stooped, next to Preston. She had sauntered over during the discussion intending to deliver the details of her latest vision.

"You've got to go to Diamond City, kid. The great, green jewel of the Commonwealth- the biggest settlement around- awaits. There you'll find more than the help we need. I've seen it." The general recalled his first encounter with Mama Murphy and "the sight-" now trying to decide how much faith he would put in it. He had met Mama Murphy in the Museum of Freedom. Mama Murphy spoke to him about her visions without hesitation. "You're the one I knew would come for us. I saw it." Her voice was sometimes quiet and at other times dragged out. Patches of dirt sat with her on the futon.

"What do you mean? How is that possible?"

"It's the chems, kid. They give 'Old Mama Murphy' 'the sight.' Been that way for as long as I can remember." She paused. A look of sadness fell across her face. "I didn't see the vault dweller or dogmeat though." The general was disturbed by the lack of clarity the vision held and promised himself he would never take any of these chems. He didn't wish to prod her into deeper sorrow, but he needed more answers. He wanted to know if she and her visions could be trusted.

"What is this 'sight?' you're talking about."

"I can see a bit of what was- and what will be- and even what is, right now." She gasped for breath. "And right now, I can see- there's somethin' comin'! Drawn by the noise a-and the chaos." She gestured with her hands as though measuring the size of the creature. "And it… is… angry." She sighed deeply after speaking. The chem use was taking its toll and the days on the run along with the raider attack hadn't helped.

"What is it you're seeing?" Looking back the general was uncertain- why had he asked this question? Perhaps it had just slipped out, or perhaps he was curious to see if "it" would come.

"I'm sorry, kid, but I just don't know. The sight ain't always clear- but believe me when I tell you- it ain't a raider." She paused, sorry she couldn't offer more. She was also worn out. Later the general would come to find out what she had seen. Even after this vision came true, the lack of detail in Mama Murphy's description left him dubious. The general chose not to trust in "the sight," but instead decided that it would be best to visit the Commonwealth's largest settlement because it must have the largest concentration of resources.

"Preston, establish recon on the Castle. I'm headed to Diamond City to get what we need."

"You won't regret trusting 'the sight,' kid. I never have." She seemed unaware that her visions did not affect the general's choice.

"I'll assemble a force near the location and wait for you there, general." Preston departed immediately. The general led Mama Murphy back to her chair. He unloaded the scrap he had gathered from his latest exploit and dumped it at the scavenger station before he set off towards Diamond City.

* * *

As Preston left Sanctuary he began to recall the remaining details of his rescue, but finding his own role and precise knowledge minimal, he decided, instead, to imagine himself in the role of the general. He traveled down to the basement of the museum and, with little effort, picked the locked door. Before him was a large generator from which he took the fusion core he required, putting it in his jacket. He ascending the stairs to the roof, finding the suit of T-45 power armor Sturges had told him would be there. Preston placed the fusion core in the suit's back and opened the suit, climbing inside. It closed comfortably around him. He looked up through the helmet to see the Vertibird that was also on the roof. Climbing through it he came to the minigun Sturges had also told him would be there. He checked to see that it was loaded. Then he grabbed ahold and prepared to struggle to rip it from its mount, but the added strength of the power armor made the task simple and the preparation unnecessary.

Preston heard shouts in the street and looked down oven the roof's edge. More raiders were converging on the museum, here to avenge their friends. Preston's minigun began to spin, and then to fire. The raiders died silently as each was half-vaporized by the incoming bullet, and as his or her blood was carried across the ground. When the raiders on the opposite rooftops and those coming up the side streets were eliminated, Preston leapt from the roof, landing with a loud clamor as he struck the sidewalk below, and refocused his fire on the raiders fleeing on the main road. The raiders no longer posed a threat to Preston, but they were raiders, and Preston was merciless.

They died much the same as the others, some falling upon two steel doors chained down on the road. Something mightily struck the doors from below and they bounced about a few times before a fearsome deathclaw burst up from the street, flinging what was left of the raiders' bodies into the air and off to the sides. Preston leapt back in shock, raising the minigun instinctively. The deathclaw gave a mighty roar and charged him. Preston's minigun began firing, the bullets striking the deathclaw about its knees. Preston began to raise the minigun as the beast rushed closer, the bullets skipping up the creature's body, flattening against its chest and head.

Preston prayed that the deathclaw would fall, but it did not. Instead the monster backhanded the armored Preston, knocking him onto his back and sliding him across the ground for a few feet. Preston had let go of the minigun when he was knocked over and now it lay ten feet behind him on the street, but the beast lay upon Preston. The deathclaw picked up the terrified Preston from the street and threw him towards the museum- and the minigun. Preston landed on his feet and stumbled backwards, running into the minigun and almost falling over. Preston latched onto the minigun again and fired into the beast as it thundered its voice into the air once more. The deathclaw came at Preston again. This time Preston ran. He retreated into one of the nearby buildings, where the creature found a great deal of trouble in reaching him. The monster violently tried to claw its way through the brickwork to prey on Preston once more, but his constant hail of bullets wore through the creature's thick hide at last. The deathclaw collapsed before the door. Preston dropped the minigun and, using the added strength of the power armor, forced the massive corpse out way, emerging victorious.

Preston went over each scene again and again in his head, modifying each to create the best and most exciting possible narrative. Soon he reached his destination and the limits of his imagination and returned to reality. It was time for him to gather the first of the new Minutemen, who would help to retake the Castle.


	2. Chapter 2

_Crawl out through the fallout, baby_

 _When they drop that bomb_

 _Crawl out through the fallout_

 _With the greatest of aplomb_

The general awoke- with sharp pain in his side- to the lyrics of the song, although the effects of his injuries prevented him from understanding. He was stuck to the wall by a pipe jutting through his liver. The blood had reached his thigh and was already flowing around its musculature. The ground before him was blackened by fire. Blood and guts were exploded on the walls. The general's gun was battered and thrown near his feet. He would need to repair it later. He attempted to force himself off the pipe- finding it impossible without the full use of his legs. Looking down- even with his blurred vision- he could tell by the pain and odd angles that his bones had been fractured. He sent a gloved hand into his jacket and it returned with a stimpak. He bit his bottom lip as he pressed his broken legs to the floor and injected it. He considered, for a brief moment, remaining attached to the pipe in order to avoid the pain that was coming. The song persuaded him not too.

 _When your white count's getting higher_

 _Hurry, don't delay_

In obedience, the general readied himself. Pushing against the floor he felt himself slide off the pipe with painful ease- the pipe lubricated by his own blood. He fell to the floor. "Gah." He spat blood onto the seared section. He gritted his teeth. He grumbled. "Body's soft." His body healed quickly- using up the stimpak in a short time. There was no longer a hole where the pipe once was. The wound, however, continued leaking blood.

Placing a hand on his wound the general rose from his knees and picked up his rifle. He stumbled out the doorway. Trying to place himself in the greater world he found his memory to be hazy. Putting his free hand into his jacket he spoke- remembering without thinking. "I'm out." His hand was empty. He stumbled on, hoping he was still headed to Diamond City.

* * *

Preston had finished gathering the new Minutemen and brought them to the Castle. Marching around it they observed two large breaches in the walls, in the north and the southwest. All they saw of the reported sea monster was the evidence it had left behind long ago, the broken walls and the mirelurks nesting inside the courtyard.

Preston once again became imaginative, now imagining himself as a participant in the final battle of Fort Independence. Preston walked the courtyard with his laser musket and nodded to General McGann. A Minuteman turned to the courtyard, shouting from atop the southwest wall. "General, something is approaching out of the water!" The Minutemen around him began firing as a tentacle lashed around his waist. With a scream, he was pulled from the wall.

"Sound the alarm! Everyone to your stations!" General McGann shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. More tentacles whipped around the wall, knocking back or latching onto the Minutemen defending it. The men and women of the Minutemen rushed about, descending into the armory to prepare themselves for battle with the beast. Preston hurried towards the wall, cranking and firing his laser musket. Where Preston shot the tentacles chunks of them dissolved into red glowing ash, falling separate from the remaining tentacle. Preston neared the wall, stopping to help a female Minuteman back to her feet.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine." Suddenly many thick tentacles flung over the southwest wall and suctioned onto it. The tentacles began to pull and Preston saw what appeared to be a massive squid pulling itself over the wall. The brick of the castle buckled as the creature pulled, until the creature came to rest upon the rubble that was once the southwest wall.

"Kraken!" Preston could not identify which Minuteman had shouted this as many Minutemen now scrambled out of the armory to fight the monstrous creature. A tentacle wrapped around the left leg of the Minuteman Preston had helped and pulled her towards the creature's exposed beak. Preston latched onto her with his right arm, holding her in place. She had tears in her eyes.

"Don't let me go! Don't let me go! I don't want to die!"

"Look at me, look me in the eyes. What's your name?"

"Kathy, my- my name is Kathy."

"You're gonna be okay Kathy." Preston fired his laser musket with his left arm, severing the tentacle's connection to the main body of the kraken. Preston watched in horror as others of his fellow Minutemen where dragged to the creature's mouth and gorged on. Countless more tentacles assailed Preston and Kathy from every direction. He fired over and over, tentacles falling to the ground all around them, as Kathy lay helpless beside him.

"We're gonna be alright babe." More tentacles came at Preston alone. He threw down his laser musket when it ran out of ammo and withdrew a knife. He had heard of common food before the Great War called sushi. He wondered what it tasted like.

"Where do you suppose the creature that made those holes went?" This question forced Preston's unwelcome return to reality.

"They say it came out of the sea. Maybe died in the battle. I don't see anything." Another Minuteman spoke.

"Well, what now?"

"We set up in that diner, wait for the general to return." Preston led the men over to the diner and they began to get settled for the waiting in store.

* * *

It had been night for an hour. The general had developed a painful limp over that hour and now stumbled upon the first signs to Diamond City. He continued until he came to the city's proper entrance. A woman with black hair, wearing a distinctive red coat and news cap stood outside the gate, arguing with an intercom, her back to the general. He intended to speak but instead moaned pitifully. The woman in the red coat hadn't noticed him and went on yelling at the intercom. "What do you mean you can't open the gate? Stop playing around, Danny! I'm standing out in the open here, for crying out loud!" The general stopped approaching for a moment and, removing his hand from his side, reexamined his wound. His blood slipped through his fingers and out of his hand. Time slowed as he watched the drops of blood splash against the ground. He was losing his lucidity. The intercom replied.

"I got orders not to let you in, Ms. Piper! I'm sorry. I'm just doing my job." The general shook his head from side to side and placed his hand back on his injury, moving closer.

"'Just doing your job?' Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? 'Oh look, it's the scary reporter!' Boo!" The intercom replied again as the general grew closer and wearier.

"I'm sorry, but Mayor McDonough's really steamed, Piper. Sayin' that article you wrote was all lies. The whole city' in a tizzy."

"Piper…" The general's voice came out wispy and nearly inaudible.

"Agh… you open this gate right now, Danny Sullivan! I live here. You can't just lock me out!" She sighed, kicked a stone at her foot, and turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw the general for the first time and she quickly turned back to the intercom. "You better open up Danny, I've got a walking legend out here." She bent down and whispered a name to the intercom. She hadn't noticed the general's injury yet.

"Like I'd really believe that. Fine, I'll open up. Just give me a minute." Piper turned back to the general.

"So, I'm Piper, Piper Wright, and you're- well you're…you…" The general remained silent and instead removed his hand from his injury again, allowing it to speak for him. "Oh, you don't look so good."

"Out of… stim-paks." The massive green door lurched and began to open, swinging back and forth as it rose.

"Well there are… there are plenty of stimpaks inside. We'd better head in quick. Here, let me help you." Piper moved back towards the general and helped to support him. But when they tried to move forward into the city, his knee bent at an odd angle and he fell to the ground.

"Damn." He started to taste blood as he spat out the word. The general put one arm around Piper as she helped him back to his feet. The general did not fall again. A man shouted, waving his arm in the air just inside the gate.

"Piper! Who let you back inside? I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut!" Making a fist he continued. "You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer! The- the level dishonesty in that paper of yours! I'll have that printer scrapped for parts." Piper snapped back, forgetting the general. She began gesturing wildly in the air with her free hand.

"Oooooo, that a statement, Mr. McDonough? 'Tyrant mayor shuts down the press?'" Desperate to continue moving before he passed out, the general pushed off of Piper to continue into the city on his own. The man noticed him now.

"Oh, I didn't mean to drag you into this argument, good sir. No, no, no." He fidgeted with his tie. "You look like Diamond City material." The general felt blood beginning to escape from the corner of his mouth, limping a step forward. The man either didn't notice, didn't care, or both. He continued, gesturing with outstretched arms. "Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. Safe. Happy. A fine place to come, spend your money, settle down. Don't let this muckraker here tell you otherwise, all right?" Piper interjected as the general cocked his head to the left and spat blood.

"Oh, you're even worse off than I thought, better get-" She was interrupted by Mayor McDonough clearing his throat.

"Now, was there anything particular you came to our city for?"

Piper answered for the general, who had fallen back on her. "Oh please McDonough, he obviously needs help, are you going to have him die at the gate while you go on talking?"

"Oh- well, I'm confident that you can find help here. Diamond City has every conceivable service known to man. One of our great citizens can surely find the time to help you."

"Agh! Let's get you into the city, there's a doctor just inside." The two moved past McDonough. The general's vision wavered and diminished with each step forward. His eyelids grew heavy. Suddenly an old man clothed in white light stood before him. This man was, at the same time, both incomprehensible and unrecognizable to the general. He only knew, somehow, that he was old. The general woke softly, at first, but his heartrate quickened as he realized he was in unfamiliar surroundings. He forgot his dream altogether.

He looked to his left and saw, hung up on the wall, his jacket, rifle, belt, and thigh holster and, on the floor below, his boots and gloves. His other clothes remained on. The general reached for his face, and, feeling his cowl, was assured that no one had peeked beneath it. He sat up to the right side of the bed. Before him sat a young girl on chair, wearing a green scarf and goggles around her neck. The general guessed she was about twelve. With a groggy growl, the general spoke.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Nat, Piper's sister." She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you the real-"

"Nat, did you wake him up? I told you to quit staring at him." Hearing Piper's voice the general remembered what had happened. The general checked the place where his injury had been. The once grey material surrounding the area had been stained a dark crimson by his blood, while the wound itself had been replaced by a smaller scar.

"Piper made sure you got fixed up, then brought you here." Nat helpfully interjected. "I think Doctor Sun did a good job."

"Hey, if you wanna try walking again, come downstairs. And it's time for you to head off to school, Nat."

"Aww, but I wanna stay here!"

"Not gonna budge." Nat left, reluctantly, looking back at the general before disappearing down the stairs. She forgot a paper on the chair by accident. The general rose to his feet without difficulty and, picking up the paper, read the handwritten headline. "Wandering Legend Bunks with Reporter." He assumed himself to be the subject of the proceeding article. He let the paper fall back to the chair before he walked downstairs.

The general found Piper working at a printer, but he didn't see Nat in the house. It seemed she had already left for school. "Morning sleepyhead. Welcome to the land of the living, and Publick Occurrences." The general's voice was no longer groggy.

"What's Publick Occurrences?"

"My home, and newspaper."

"What do you run a newspaper for?"

"There are a lot of lies and secrets out there in the Commonwealth and people need to know the truth." The general suddenly remembered why he had come to Diamond City.

"Thank you. For taking me in." He tossed a bag of caps onto the printer desk. "But I have work to do. I'll be leaving soon."

"Stop and talk to me before you go. I was hoping to get an interview." The general didn't respond, instead climbing back upstairs to gather his things. "Not a talker, huh? Have it your way." The general wasn't sure if Piper had just turned on the radio, or if he hadn't noticed as she was talking to him, but he listened to the music while he gathered his weapons and clothing.

 _I'm as corny as Kansas in August,_

 _I'm as normal as blueberry pie._

Two more songs went by before the general finished putting his clothes and weapons back in order. He noted that his rifle had been repaired and guessed that Piper might've done it. He looked the modified combat rifle over, finding it like new. Slinging the weapon strap over his left shoulder, he headed back downstairs and towards the door. Piper was about to stop him for the interview she was after when they heard two male voices shouting outside.

"Kyle. I'm your brother! Put the gun down!"

"Don't move synth! What have you done with the real Riley? Where's my brother?" The general pushed open the door, finding a hazardous scene beyond it. One man held another at gunpoint near the center of the market. People were starting to gather. Diamond City security guards had already arrived and had the man in their sights. The general swiftly threw down his rifle, marching towards the man. He needed to defuse this situation before the security guards did.

"I swear. I'm not a synth! Don't shoot! For God's sakes, we're family!" The general interrupted, still moving on Kyle.

"Put the gun down. Now!" Kyle didn't look away from his brother. He had been aiming the pipe pistol at Riley's chest, but now he moved it towards his head. The general had no choice but to take him down.

"He's a synth! He'll- argh!" Kyle cried out in pain as the general, with one easy movement, broke his arm at the elbow. The guards leapt back at this, but readied themselves again when the pistol misfired, hitting the nearby cooking station. Kyle held onto it. The general remained latched on to Kyle, using his broken arm as a lever, along with his own shoulder as a fulcrum, to flip Kyle and throw him to the ground. Kyle released the gun as he was thrown and laid in the dirt for a few moments, clutching his elbow where a bone now protruded. The general abandoned his fighting stance and stood over Kyle at his feet. Unexpectedly, Kyle reached for the pistol with his uninjured arm. Riley called out in desperation.

"Kyle! No!" His head exploded, shot by one of the Diamond City security guards. Blood and brains splattered the general's boots. The guards all but ignored what had happened. Kyle's body lay in the dirt without a head. One of the guards, not the one who had fired, spoke to dismiss the crowd. His voice was monotone, as though he had witnessed some mundane event over no one would later grieve, and it forced the general to question whether or not this city was an improvement over the raider infested wasteland outside.

"Okay, shows over! There are no synths in Diamond City, hear me? Just you folks and your damn paranoia!" Riley spoke softly and to himself, but the general was still near enough to hear the man's pain.

"He- he pulled a gun on me. My own bother…" He sighed heavily. "I'm… I'm not a synth. I told him. I kept telling him. Why didn't he listen to me?" Someone placed a hand on the general's shoulder. It was the guard who had killed Kyle.

"I need you to step away, sir" The general did not move.

"What led to this?"

"It's that newspaper's fault. Got people all riled up, thinking their own family might be replaced by machines." His next statement had the opposite effect from what he intended. "Look, I'm sorry you got caught up in all this, but it's over, okay? Just go about your business like nothing happened. Better that way." The other guard who had addressed the crowd before shouted to them again as the general stepped away.

"What's everyone still standing around for? Go back to your own damn business!" The onlookers obeyed this time, returning to their homes and businesses. The general walked back over to Piper's residence, bending down and picking up his gun in front of the doorway. There Piper was standing.

"Well, that… could have gone better." The general silently agreed. "The way you handled that though- I definitely need this interview."

"Fine. Ask away." Piper turned, leading the general inside and upstairs to he terminal. She gestured for him to sit down on the bed where he had woken up this morning. Piper sat in the chair opposite the bed and prepared to type his responses.

"Okay, first question. What are you- what are you doing in Diamond City?" She added extra emphasis on the second "you."

"I'm here to get supplies. Resources. The Minutemen are going to retake the Castle."

"So you're what's left of the Minutemen, interesting. Next question, uh- what should I call you?"

"In the Minutemen they call me 'the general.'"

"Wait- you're the general of the Minutemen?"

"Preston Garvey says no one can argue with him."

"Last I heard, Garvey was the last Minuteman."

"He was."

"So, general, why should the people of the Commonwealth put their faith in the Minutemen? After Quincy, I mean."

"The Minutemen were disorganized at the time. No one was really in charge. Many didn't feel it worth their time to show up. Now we're building and helping settlements. Creating safe havens for wanderers. Guarding against raiders. Maybe one day we'll take back Quincy."

"Hmm, maybe. Well, I think that'll be enough to write my article off of. Thanks. Now I just have to put it all together." The general got up to leave. "Wait." The general stopped. "If you're looking for a few extra caps for supplies, a friend of mine, Nick Valentine, has gone missing. There's a reward if you can find him. Just talk to Ellie Perkins, his assistant, in his office. It's the one in the back of town with a heart on the sign. And about earlier, in the market- I know that must've been hard for you." She paused, trying to read him. She was unsuccessful. "Hard for anybody. Ugh, look, I'm no good at this. I'm sorry I pushed you into this interview right after that. If you want, I can come with you. To make it up to you."

"It's your funeral."


	3. Chapter 3

Piper and the general together descended into the Park Street subway station,the station where Ellie Perkins had told them Nick was being held. The general bent low to the floor and Piper did likewise. He led her to the left side of the first doorway; they could hear a conversation between two men on the other side. Two triggermen. "I'm tellin' ya, join' Skinny Malone's crew was the best decision we ever made. Look at this place!"

"I still say Malone's weak, caught that detective snooping around and what does he do? Locks him up. Like he ain't got the balls to just kill him."

"Well don't let his new girl hear that, she'll start swingin' that bat of hers in yur face, until there ain't no face left."

The general rounded the corner with his combat rifle raised. Though he intended to approach silently, the swishing of his long jacket brought him to the triggerman's attention. He spoke, turning to face the general.

"Wait. The hell?" The general growled at him as the second triggerman fired, sending his bullets to the right of the general and into the tiled wall. Seeing the general bolt to a supporting pillar to the left to avoid the gunfire, Piper rushed through the doorway and took cover behind a match to the right. The general noticed her coordination. She fired her 10mm pistol into one of the triggermen's heads. He had expected the reporter to be uncoordinated, and possibly a liability, but she was proving competent- for now. The general sprayed the second triggerman and he fell in the space of the doorway, which led deeper into the station. From their left, a voice cried out.

"They're here for the detective! Ice em'!" Piper swiftly moved to the next pillar in front of her, but one of the newly arrived triggermen clipped her shoulder with a bullet from his submachine gun. The general ran into the middle of the room, slaughtering this triggerman. Another triggerman charged the general with nothing but his fists, but the general caught him in the jaw with the stock of his rifle brutally, causing his neck to twist and break. The ragdoll slumped to the floor.

Piper stepped out from behind the pillar, taking a look at her shoulder. The injury was far from serious.

"I wonder if this is normal for other reporters." The general began harvesting the corpses for ammunition. Piper followed suit. "Ours now." The duo journeyed deeper into the station, deeper underground. The general crept along the floor again, with Piper behind, and they came upon the next location.

"Huh. Wait a minute…" The general peeked around the corner and shot the triggerman in the back with a cluster of ammunition. The other triggermen were unsure of where the shots came from. The general retreated back up the stairs, killing another who was farther off and alerting the triggermen to his location, who now aimed their sights at the only entrance to the room. This room was filled with overturned objects serving as cover. This was somewhat advantageous to the triggermen, but among the maze the general had no equal. He expertly maneuvered between the objects, eliminating triggerman after triggerman. Bullets bounced off the cover to his right and to his left, but none of his assailants took sight of him. With little overall effort, the general arrived at the nearer of the two tracks running through the station.

Piper proved less adept at this. After moving up behind the general and firing over to the other side of the tracks, she foolishly stood up while the general fired on more triggermen who were further down the line. He eliminated these triggermen by blind firing his rifle across the tunnel opening, although one had attempted to duck. Piper, on the other hand, shot only one triggerman before a bullet tore through her left breast.

Piper's eyes glazed over as she crashed into the wall of cover. The general whipped out his pipe pistol, sending the triggerman's brains forth from the back of his skull. He knelt down and turned back to Piper, reaching inside his jacket. Despite remembering he was out, his hand latched onto a stimpak. He administered the injection quickly. Piper mumbled as her wound healed and the world came back into focus. "Glad I bought you an extra." After making a complete and rapid recovery she picked herself up, following the silent general along the tracks.

The next area was significantly different. It well lit by construction equipment, with a dirt floor and a vault door embedded in the opposite wall. Ellie had told them Nick was being held inside. They were no longer in the station. The general shot the middle triggerman in the spine with a single bullet before the other two triggermen opened fire. Piper and the general ran out, firing back. When they had finished, they approached the door to the vault, where the general took a pip-boy from his jacket and plugged it into the panel to the right of the entrance. He had taken the portable computer off the dead vault dweller in Concord, but Piper thought he might've been a vault dweller once. She wondered if she might get away with calling him "Blue," a reference to the blue jumpsuits they were usually still wearing when they finally left the vault. She guessed not. The general slammed his hand on the panel's button, and the door opened, rolling to the left. A bridge extended to welcome them inside.

"Why's that door gotta be so loud? Hello… That you Skinny? Darla?" The general moved up the stairs half crouched with his gun raised.

"Neither." The triggerman's blood splashed on the wall behind him. Piper commented offhand.

"Good riddance."

"Leavin' so soon? Was just startin' too admire ya." Piper and the general once again moved low and cautiously, heading towards the voice. Rounding the corner, they found an empty connecting hallway. The general turned to the containers standing against the wall and searched through them for anything of value, letting his guard down momentarily. A triggerman wielding a baseball bat rushed into the hall, startling them both. Piper jumped back a step and fired three quick rounds, which struck him in the chest. He still managed to reach the general, but fell dead before harming him. The general gave Piper a small look of appreciation before re-steeling himself. She figured it was the best she could expect from him.

Once more, the pair journeyed down a flight of steps cautiously, and once more they heard a voice at the bottom.

"So, I got a question. Why the hell would anyone build a vault out of a subway station? This place is like… the opposite of air-tight." The room ahead appeared empty; the voice must have come from the open left room. The duo crept toward it, listening as another voice responded.

"Because they weren't planning to use it, you moron. We used to pull this kind of con all the time back before the war." This second voice must belong to a ghoul. "Get a bunch of union boys to work some construction job that would go nowhere. Keep everyone on payroll." The general passed though the doorway and, seeing two triggermen, motioned for Piper to follow. He pointed at her and then at the triggerman on the left before making a gun with his hand. Piper understood. They moved in perfect unison, each drawing out their pistols and firing a single bullet into the back of their target's head. They watched as both bodies fell with the same unison Piper and the general had executed them with. Piper felt something, uncertain of what to call it. She looked to the general to see if he had felt it too, but he was already moving on. She desperately wanted to elicit a response.

"Really holding your own down here."

"I always do." Piper was momentarily stunned. She had not expected a response, though she had wanted one, and wondered if these adventures could be more than a one-shot occurrence. If only she could find some crack in his demeanor, she might find some substance which would make the man intriguing.

The general opened the door to the next room, revealing a large network of triggermen, stairs, and walkways- all leading deeper underground. This time the general commented on his own. "Not much cover up ahead." He checked his rifle, making sure it had a full clip. "Grab a submachine gun from the triggerman. This could be difficult without it." Piper did as she was told while the general rushed into the room, opening fire on the first triggerman he saw. Piper followed.

The general leapt off the railing, landed on a triggerman, withdrew his pipe pistol, and fired into the man's face as Piper decimated a second triggerman who was knocked down behind the general. The general killed two more triggermen on the next walkway below before jumping down another level. Soon they had cleared the triggermen, coming to the exit at the base of the network.

The final room had many decks, yet only one triggerman. The general had grown more talkative. "Wait here. Shoot him if he notices me- but only if he notices me." Piper nodded. The general holstered his pipe pistol and crept along the left side of the room, listening as the triggerman talked.

"How ya doin' in there, Valentine? Feelin' hungry? Want a snack?" A voice that Piper recognized shouted a response from inside the locked room the triggerman faced. The voice was Nick's.

"Keep talkin', meathead, it'll give Skinny Malone more time to think about how he's gonna bump you off!"

"Don't give me that crap, Valentine. You know nothin', you got nothin'" Piper watched the general as he reached the stairs, a little more than halfway to the "meathead."

"Really? I saw him writin' your name down in that 'black book' of his. 'Lousy, cheating card-shark' I think were his exact words." Nick stressed the word exact. "Then he struck it across three times!" Sensing the conversation might be drawing to a close, the general moved faster toward the triggerman. Piper placed her finger upon the submachine gun's trigger, anxious he might be spotted if the triggerman turned to leave. The triggerman replied nervously.

"Three strikes? In the 'black book?' But I never… oh no. I've gotta smooth this over- fast." He turned, almost running into the general. The general lunged at him. Piper opened fire on both of them accidentally. The general came in between the bullets and the triggerman. He wrapped his arms and hands about the triggerman's head, snapping the neck as bullets struck him in the back.

Piper's had closed her eyes, horrified to imagine the bullets ripping through his body, reducing the legend to a corpse upon the cold metal floor. When the imagines reached the pinnacle of their horror, she opened her eyes, seeking relief, yet she saw the general still standing, uninjured, the bullets having penetrated his dark brown trench coat, but not the grey beneath. Piper was bewildered at his survival. From the stories her father told her long ago, she shouldn't have been, but she knew he couldn't be the original, and nobody in the Commonwealth had armor like that.

The general groaned. The material stopped the bullets, but they still caused him pain. He shrugged it off. Piper didn't know what to say, and so, said nothing. She threw down the submachine gun and came alongside him. Nick yelled to the general, unable to see Piper through the window.

"Hey you! I don't know who you are, but we got three minutes before they realize muscles- for brains ain't coming back! Get this door open!" The general peered through the thick, partly shattered glass window at the man inside, if what you could call the person he saw a man. "You gotta hack this terminal to open up this door!" The general opened the terminal on his right and chose the option "[Override Door Controls]." The door slid up into the ceiling. "Ah, my knight-in-shining armor, or should I say 'dark knight?' Question is, why does he come all way, risk life and limb, for an old private eye?"

"What the hell are you?"

"Told you. I'm a detective. Look, I know the skin and the metal parts ain't comforting, but it's not important right now. The only thing that matters is why you went to all this trouble to cut me loose." Nick Valentine's glowing yellow eyes and his throat which looked like it had once been torn out deeply disturbed the general. Piper stepped around the corner.

"Hey Nicky, Ellie sent us."

"She did? I should give her a raise. I've been cooped up in here for weeks. Turns out the runaway daughter I came here to find wasn't kidnapped. She's Skinny Malone's new flame, and she's got a mean streak. But now ain't the time to talk. Let's blow this joint." Nick ran out of the room, talking history as he ran. "Malone's crew used to be small time, muscled out of the old neighborhood by bigger players. Until they found this place. Don't know what happened to the previous owners, but they're not exactly around to charge rent. An empty vault. Perfect hideout."

Nick opened a new door, one to the right of the entrance the general had come through. The hallway behind it was spotted with shadows and dim light. The detective led them down a set of stairs, kneeling when he got to the base. "Hold up. I hear some of them coming." Nick moved to the left of the doorway, looking through another doorway to see the triggermen he had heard. "There they are, how do you wanna play this?"

The general didn't answer, but crept into the next room. He put his hand on a Nuka-Cola machine. From it came the faint, heavenly blue glow of a Nuka- Cola Quantum. The general quietly opened the machine and slid the bottle into his jacket. He peered out of the room to access the situation. There were three, maybe four, triggermen to be killed or snuck past. Seeing no way around them, the general opened fire on the first triggerman, killing him before he could respond. Seeing his fellow goon die, another shouted.

"There! Waste 'em!" The remaining triggermen opened fire on the doorway as the general ducked behind it. Bullets leapt off the metal framing, as well as off the general's armor, like crickets chased from fields of hay. Piper and Nick fired back. Another triggerman fell before Nick rushed out shouting.

"You're in for it now!" The general's combat rifle chewed through a third triggerman like a rabid dog. Only one remained, hiding behind some far-off cover. He was no match for Nick's pipe pistol and careful aim. The detective began running again, out of the vault this time. He commented on the general's approach. "Hard and loud, huh? Well, it gets the job done. Too bad for whoever cleans up the floors…"

Piper followed with the general down a long, wide hallway before coming to a locked door where Nick was bending over to work. "This door's on the fritz, let me see if I can get it open…" Nick fiddled with the panel next to it, speaking under his breath. "Almost got it… there we are! Hell of a lot easier to do when the lock isn't on the other side…" The door opened with the sound of pneumatics. There were stairs on the other side, winding left and right, ascending towards the surface. Nick reached the top of the stairs, carelessly running into the next room with the general close behind.

"Aaaayyyaarrrrgghh!" A triggerman swung his bat at Nick as the synth passed through the doorway, but Nick managed to duck the blow. Surprised, the general raised his rifle and filled the attacker's stomach with lead. Nick readied his own pistol, commenting as he realized he was too late.

"Cleaned house." The three kept moving, passing through the door in the left wall. A single triggerman was inside the newly discovered room, his gun already drawn.

"Time for you to take the fall." The general pulled his gun's trigger, but only one bullet left it, and one bullet was not enough. The clip was empty. Piper put her arm over the general's shoulder, shooting the triggerman in the head before he could respond. Winding through more hallways they killed two more triggermen, one of whom was a ghoul. Nick commented when he came to another set of stairs.

"More stairs? Who built this damn vault, a fitness instructor?" It made Piper chuckle, and she thought she saw the general smirk. At the top of the stairs were two more triggermen, who were quickly taken out by Piper and the general. They kept following Nick, who spoke again as they rounded the final corners and jogged through the last rooms. "Skinny Malone and the rest of the boys are waiting for us somewhere. The name's- uhh- ironic, but don't let that fool you. He's dangerous." They arrived at a final locked door. "Another locked door. Shouldn't be too hard…" Nick took little time in fixing the door's panel. "Okay, I got it, but I hear big, fat footsteps on the other side. Once we step through this door, get ready for anything."

The trio walked through the door. Nick stood to the left, Piper to the right, the general front and center. They came face-to-face with Skinny Malone.

"Nicky? What're you doin'? You come into my house. Shoot up my guys. You have any idea how much this is gonna set me back?"

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your two-timing dame, Skinny. You oughta tell her to write home more often." The "two-timing dame" defended herself.

"Awww… poor little Valentine. Ashamed you got beat up by a girl? I'll just run back home to daddy, shall I?"

"Should've left it alone, Nicky. This ain't the old neighborhood. In this vault, I'm king of the castle, ya hear me. And I ain't lettin' some private dick shut us down now that I finally gotta good thing goin'."

"I told you we should've just killed him! But then you had to get all sentimental… all that stupid crap about the 'old times.'"

"Darla, I'm handling this! Skinny Malone's always got things under control."

Oh yeah, then what's this guy doing here, huh? Valentine must have brought him here to rub us all out."

"Stop throwing your life away with these thugs. Go home Darla." Piper was surprised. She had expected him to exactly what Darla had predicted. Perhaps he actually cared what happened to Darla.

"I… I… You're right. What am I doing? I gotten all mixed up."

"Darla? Where- wh-whe-where are you goin'?"

"Home, Skinny. Where I should've been all this time. This is goodbye for us."

"Oh, come on Nicky! You cost me my me, now you and your friend cost me my girl?"

"My friend here just did you a favor. You always did have bad taste in women. Now that she's not around to feed that temper of yours maybe you'll see sense and let us walk. Ya still owe me for two weeks in the hole."

"You smug, overconfident ass… Geyouttahere! Alright, you get to the count of ten, I still see your face after that, I'm gunning the three of you down!" The three ran towards the vault's exit as Malone started counting. They made their way through the network through which they had come, coming at last to the exit, where Nick looked up and spoke.

"Ah, look at that Commonwealth sky. Never thought anything so naturally ominous could end up looking so inviting…"


End file.
